His companion remained at the door of the neighbor’s house, talking with an elderly man who seemed most grateful the chair was gone.
Satisfied that the set of soldiers understood how to be helpful in somewhat hazardous ways, Perrin set off down the road again. At the western edge of the village, he stopped again at a farm and stared in amazement.
Three soldiers stood knee-deep in a mucky canal, digging out a blockage. The farmer who owned it leaned on his crutch, his broken leg still healing from the Guarder attack, while the fourth soldier took down information about his household. More residents stood in line, waiting to give their information, and also to call out advice to the soldiers whose uniforms would need cleaning tomorrow.
The three of them looked up at their commander apprehensively, but Perrin smiled his approval.
“I had no idea soldiers were so useful,” one man a little older than Perrin said to him. “I only thought they were good for chasing a man in black every now and then.”
Perrin pulled out his cheesy line again.
“The Army of Idumea is here to serve.” This time, however, Major Shin felt it a bit more sincerely.
As he rode away he smiled up to the sky.
“See Hogal?” he murmured. “I learned a few things from you. I still could use you here, though.”
Perrin fancied he heard a response, but it was likely just his memory fulfilling a wish.
No you don’t, my boy. There’s nothing more I could teach you. Well done, Perrin.
---
It was well past dinner time when Perrin finally came through the back door. He looked exhausted but—for the first time in weeks—a little bit pleased.
Mahrree smiled tentatively at him.
“So I’ve been hearing stories all day. Apparently you gave someone a ride to fetch a midwife?”
Perrin nodded. “I did. Heard on my way home it was a healthy boy.”
“And Shem was tasked by a widow to fix her wobbly gate?”
Perrin began to smile. “And her fence, and she wants him back again tomorrow for a leaky window.”
“And several other soldiers helped move hay, chase down a stray calf, hang a barn door, patch a leaking roof and a host of other tasks?” Mahrree recited. “Sounds like Stage One turned out to be, ‘Get To Know Your Friendly Soldiers Day’ after all! Or maybe, ‘Pull Out The To-Do List, Here Come The Soldiers Day’?”
“More like, ‘Feed the Soldiers to See Whose Cake They Judge is Best Day’. Somehow Gizzada started that, and I don’t think there’s a crumb of cake left anywhere in the village!” Perrin laughed.
He actually laughed! Mahrree sighed in thankful amazement. It had been weeks since she heard that sound that reminded her of deep, happy bells.
“Oh, I’m so relieved! Well done, Major.”
“You know I didn’t do anything,” he shook his head. “I have to admit, you had a rather good idea there. And Hogal thought so as well. I could feel him, Mahrree. He was influencing the soldiers and showing them how they could do some good first.”
She grinned. “And maybe Tabbit was reminding the villagers what needed fixing?”
Perrin chuckled. “Probably! That was the lesson they always tried to teach me. Service first, leadership later. Edge loves the soldiers now.”
“That should make Stage Two easier, shouldn’t it?”
“It might make it more difficult, if people keep finding odd jobs for the soldiers. Stage Two is all about speed, not finishing off people’s to-do lists!”
“So when’s the first Race to Edge?” Mahrree asked excitedly.
“That’s not what it’s called, by the way,” he said, slightly aggravated. “Neeks will have the map and designations finished day after tomorrow. So in three days,” he began to grin again, “Edge will experience Stage Two and be invaded once more. This time by soldiers.”
“Now,” Perrin said in a sudden shift of tone mixed with annoyance and something else Mahrree couldn’t quite discern, “exactly what possessed you to barge your way into my training arena and alter the uniforms of my soldiers?”
Mahrree bit her lower lip.
Her husband started to smile when he saw that.
“Are you still mad about this morning?” she fretted.
“Are the children asleep?”
She nodded.
“Then let’s say there are a few things about this morning we need to discuss.”
Mahrree giggled.
---
Two men sat in a dark room of an unlit building.
“Exactly what is he doing up there in Edge?” Mal asked, his hands clasped in his lap.
Brisack shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. We have only a few left in the forest up there. Still no word from the Quiet Man, but,” he hesitated as Mal glared, “help will be in place at the fort in the next few weeks. I’ve thoroughly prepared him, explained to him the importance of this assignment, and have the utmost confidence he’ll be successful. We will see interesting results.”
Mal sighed. “I better. I have my doubts, leaving this one all up to you. Did you see the report from the High General? Major Shin is proving to be quite the busy bear. An identification system for the entire village? A map with each house labeled and the number of residents recorded? He’s finding a way to keep an eye on every citizen.”
Brisack nodded in admiration. “Sounds like he’s taken his position as Eyes and Ears and Voice of the Administrators to a fascinating level.”
“Yes,” Mal said slowly. “Innovative.”
“Very progressive, I’d say,” Brisack agreed.
“Progressive?” Mal said in a slight growl. “Progress comes from the Administrators, not the citizens!”
“Shin isn’t a citizen,” Brisack pointed out. “He’s an officer.”
Mal stared out the black window. “Just what are you doing, Perrin?”
Chapter 16 ~ “But bears don’t innovate!”
Mahrree was hanging the laundry out on the line in the back garden when she saw Grandpy Neeks jogging down the main fort road. She waved to him, and he cut down the alley.
“Mrs. Shin,” he nodded as he approached.
“And where are you off to on this beautiful afternoon?” Mahrree asked him.
“Off to be rescued, of course!” He grinned playfully, his gnarled face adding even more distinctive wrinkles.
Mahrree knew he had forgiven her for her “softening” of the soldiers earlier in the week. Rumors had gotten back to her—via her mother, naturally—that a few older single women thought the “poor” master sergeant looked like he needed some fattening up and maybe even some tender loving care, and would Mahrree know if he were available? Until Mahrree could be sure of just how old Grandpy Neeks was, she didn’t know which of the names to pass along to him. Perrin’s claim that Grandpy was only in his early forties seemed preposterous. And his further claim that he would not become involved in Grandpy’s potential love life—“So don’t you dare think of asking me, Mahrree!”—was also disappointing.
But yesterday Mahrree mentioned to Grandpy in passing that a few Edge women were interested in him, especially one who he helped with a stubborn cat in a tree on Get to Know Your Friendly Soldiers Day.
Grandpy had looked pleasantly startled by that, then said, “Well, since she reminded me so much of my own dear grandmother—”
Mahrree had been too stunned at that response to know how to proceed with suggesting he pay her a visit. Perhaps she wasn’t cut out for making matches.
But at least Grandpy was smiling at her again.
“I heard you’re the first victim, and I can hardly wait!” Mahrree chuckled. “So who’s running the first Race to Edge?”
Grandpy raised his eyebrows. “Zenos got you calling it that too?”
“I got him calling it that! Perrin wouldn’t come up with anything more interesting, so I named it myself.”
Grandpy grinned. “Well, the whole fort is calling Stage Two ‘The Race’ now, much to the major
’s disapproval.”
“Zenos is a good gossip,” Mahrree nodded in approval. “And I thought the soldiers might enjoy getting to know every corner of Edge if they realized it was a race. Get egos involved, and I’ve discovered men will do just about anything.”
“Indeed they do!” Neeks laughed.
“When’s the race beginning?”
“About half an hour. Sit on your front porch with the little ones and enjoy the chaos.”
“How many pairs is he starting with?” Mahrree asked.
“Three today, with himself, Karna, and Gizzada following them on horseback. You know how the major likes to shout his little bits of encouragement to the men,” Neeks said soberly, but with a wink.
Mahrree grinned. “Which means, if any of the men get lost he’ll be hoarse with screaming at them by the time they find and ‘rescue’ you.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it. This first race will be exceptionally confusing, and I fully expect to see at least two veins bulging on his neck. No one does angry quite like a Shin,” Neeks drawled with devious anticipation. “Have a good afternoon, Mrs. Shin!” He smiled as he waved and continued his jog into Edge.
Mahrree rubbed her face. “Ooh, boy. Hope Perrin gets it all out of him by the time he comes home tonight.”
Half an hour later Mahrree sat eagerly on her front porch, with Jaytsy and Peto fresh up from their naps, and cheered as the first racers ran past her house. Perrin, on horseback, followed closely and was already shouting.
Mrs. Hersh, pulling weeds out of her garden—and subtly tossing them over into the Shins’ overgrown yard—looked up in alarm.
“An attack?!” she called over to Mahrree.
“No,” Mahrree chuckled. “It’s Stage Two—the Race to Edge? It’s been announced at the amphitheater for the past few days.”
Mrs. Hersh nodded slowly as if she just remembered.
Another two soldiers ran past, with Karna following them and yelling.
“Oh, my,” Mrs. Hersh mumbled.
Mahrree giggled to herself. “I wonder how much of Edge forgot? I suppose they’ll remember just as quickly.”
---
That night when Perrin came home, he was all smiles.
“It went that well?” Mahrree said.
“Not exactly,” he scowled briefly. “But in hindsight, it was amusing.”
“I saw Grandpy on his way to the village. He said he made the first location purposefully confusing.”
Perrin grinned. “He sent the soldiers to find the tailor’s.”
“Oh,” Mahrree began to chuckle. “Which one?”
“That’s when it got interesting,” Perrin laughed. “All six of them ran straight for the tailor shop where they do alterations for the army. But no Master Sergeant.”
“Oh no!”
“So after terrifying the customers in the shop by running around frantically to find Neeks, they all rushed out and into the next tailor shop, filled with women.”
Mahrree burst out laughing.
“After several screams,” Perrin continued, chuckling, “the six of them ran out of that shop—”
“I’m guessing no one in Edge remembered about the race today?”
“None that I could tell. The market was in full panic!”
“And you were there, on horseback, screaming at the soldiers, right?”
“Of course I was!” Perrin exclaimed. “It was embarrassing! They started hysterically running into every shop, looking under every cart, and one even looked under a hat on display as if Neeks could be hiding under it.”
Mahrree was laughing so hard she was wiping tears off her face. “So where was he?”
“Tayler’s Sweet Shop! He was sucking on his second syrup drop and sitting in the middle of the shop on a stool by the time the soldiers finally found him. I’ll tell you, he has the head-shaking-in-disappointment motion down to an art form.”
“I should have followed the soldiers!” Mahrree laughed. “At least it wasn’t Gizzada in there, or the sweet shop would have been cleaned out. So when’s the second Race to Edge?”
“Day after tomorrow. And Magistrate Cockalorum better be ready. I already sent him a message that he’s going to be ‘saved!’”
Two days later all of Edge was ready. Mahrree wasn’t the only one sitting on her porch with her children; the whole neighborhood was cheering on the runners as they ran through Edge on their way to the south of the village, Perrin and Karna on horseback following the chase and shouting.
Mahrree knew the best new entertainment had just arrived in Edge. Soon everyone else would catch on, too.
By the end of the week, they had.
Perrin came home for dinner and announced, “Now we’re getting requests for soldiers to run through family parties, surprise someone for their birthday, or terrify a relative visiting from somewhere else!” He tried to say it with exasperation, but his eyes were twinkling.
“Well done again, Major!” Mahrree grinned and kissed him. “Although, I do have a question about a certain ‘home invasion’ two of my After School Care students told me about?”
Perrin chuckled. “Yes, that. It seems that to save some time, two soldiers ran through a house, even stealing a turkey leg in the process and tracking mud from the back door to the front. Mrs. Peerce was not amused when she came up to the fort to complain.”
“But her sons were. Now all of the boys want to be on your routes. And really, it might be a good idea to accommodate some of those requests,” she hinted. “Remind the citizens the soldiers are there for them?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps, perhaps. Even if they shout the wrong directions at times, the villagers have been good about the soldiers jumping over their fences and running through their gardens. So far Corporal Zenos has won the three races he’s run. Every soldier wants a chance at either being his partner or beating him.”
“Sounds like a good motivational tool, Major,” she winked. “As long as there’s no wagering.”
“Only bragging rights,” he winked back. “And I never realized a man could be so humble in bragging. Shem’s an unusual person.”
Mahrree wrapped her arms around him. “And so are you, Major Shin! So one more success?”
He nodded. “And then I think Edge just might finally be as safe as I can make it. Aside from building a massive stockade fence around it.”
---
Two men sat in a dark room of an unlit building.
“Races?” Mal asked. “Races?”
Brisack nodded. “Quite progress—uh, I mean, innovative, don’t you think? The soldiers are learning the intricacies of the village as well as if they’d been raised there. Even new soldiers can find their way around with his labeling system. Fascinating! I wonder that no one thought of this before. Perhaps the intensity of the raids have pushed him to such tactics.”
“Are you suggesting that we’ve caused this?” Mal bristled.
Brisack shrugged with a smile. “I suppose we have. He’s become quite the aggressive bear, hasn’t he?”
“But bears don’t innovate! They fight! They designate territories—”
“Isn’t that what he’s doing? Improving the army’s ability to fight? Marking his territory?”
Mal groaned in frustration. “He’s making things very difficult. This was completely unanticipated!”
Brisack waved that off. “So then we innovate and counter his movements. It’s like a game of dices. He makes a call, we make another, he places a bet, we place another, then we see who really rolls the best numbers. That’s all.”
“How can you be so casual about this?” Mal seethed. “Don’t you see what he’s doing?!”
“Yes. He’s forcing us to be progressive, too. I must say, he’s making all of this far more interesting, isn’t he?” Brisack said, his eyes shining.
“He’s ruining everything!” the old man shouted. “He cannot be allowed to succeed, or he puts in peril all that we are attempting to do! Bears don’t innovate!”
“NO, HE’S NOT!” Mal bellowed. “And I want him STOPPED!”
Suddenly a stream of profanities erupted from the Chairman.
“Slagging Shin! Son of a Sow! What the slag have you done?!”
Brisack blinked in mild shock. He’d seen Mal become irate before, but never heard him use slag in such a filthy way. Normally “slag” was the throw-away bits left over from smelting, except in the way the army said it, their tone turning it into foulest word in the world, and one rarely uttered.
As for son of a sow? Oh, that was just every day muttering for Mal.
But what surprised the good doctor even more was Mal’s excessive fury.
“The problem is . . .?”
“Do you realize what he’s done?!” Mal spat.
Brisack sighed. “Tell me.”
“He’s undone US! Think about it—if his little procedure for recording the names of all residents goes throughout the entire world, and soldiers can race to a person’s house within minutes . . .”
Brisack slowly nodded. “Ah, I see. A few people that turn up missing may actually be somewhere else doing something else—for us. Interesting,” he mused. “I suppose this is why most people don’t play dices against themselves. Gets hard to remember which side you really want to win.”
“We win!” Mal shouted, then looked perplexed. “I mean, ‘we’ being—wait . . .”
The good doctor smirked. “One side will always win, and the other always lose. Which half of you do you want to succeed?”
Mal exhaled loudly and started a quiet monologue consisting mostly of words beginning with, as far as Brisack could discern, the letter “s.”
“SlaggingstupidsonsofsowsShins—”
Brisack let him natter on like a mad old woman before he cleared his throat. “Whenever you’re ready, I may have a solution.”
Mal shut right up.
“You realize that Shin’s recording procedure will only fly in villages that were attacked,” Brisack pointed out. “After terror, the people are willing to forfeit all kinds of freedoms to ensure their security. That’s something we may want to remember, by the way. But everyone else will see this as a further intrusion of the forts, especially when they see how quickly a soldier can be standing at their door.”
Soldier at the Door (Forest at the Edge) Page 38
